one ninja to rule them all
you play as Ryu the master ninja who needs to save his village, but more important his girlfriend from the evil black spider clan and it's associates.
you hold the DS before you like a book. the left screen is used for area maps and the right screen for the actual gameplay. Ryu moves through beautifully prerendered Japanese landscapes and all the hacking and slashing is done with the stylus. all buttons are for blocking, but you don't have to do that often on the normal level. throughout the game you are treated to many cutscenes which cover both screens. the artwork is very nice manga. as you proceed the enemies get a bit tougher, but you can upgrade your sword and learn new moves. you also learn special magic attacks. when you want to do one of these you have to draw a Japanese symbol. this is very cool and very much the way of the ninja.
it took me less then 10 hours to finish, but i think that's just right for this game. it keeps it from becoming repetitive.
if you like ninjas (and who doesn't?) and own a DS this is a great game. especially if you get it cheap.